Subway death shove a hate crime

New York City police officers escort 31-Year-old Erika Menendez to an awaiting car as she screams, at New York City Police department 112th Precinct in the Queens Borough of New York, December 29, 2012. Menendez who made self-incriminating statements was taken in custody in the death of a man pushed in front of an oncoming New York City subway train, police said on Saturday, the second such fatality this month for one of the world's busiest subway systems. REUTERS/Joshua Lott

New York City police officers escort 31-Year-old Erika Menendez to an awaiting car as she screams, at New York City Police department 112th Precinct in the Queens Borough of New York, December 29, 2012. Menendez who made self-incriminating statements was taken in custody in the death of a man pushed in front of an oncoming New York City subway train, police said on Saturday, the second such fatality this month for one of the world's busiest subway systems. REUTERS/Joshua Lott

Published Dec 30, 2012

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New York - Prosecutors say a woman accused of pushing an immigrant from India to his death in front of a New York subway train has been charged with murder as a hate crime.

Police arrested Erika Menendez on Saturday after a passer-by on a street noticed she resembled the woman seen in a surveillance video.

A spokeswoman for Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown says Menendez told authorities she hates Hindus and Muslims.

Subway shoving victim Sunando Sen was from India, but it's unclear if he was Muslim or Hindu.

Sen was killed Thursday. Witnesses say a muttering woman pushed him on the tracks as a train entered a Queens station and then ran off.

Menendez is in custody and can't be reached for comment. It's unclear if she has an attorney. - Sapa-AP

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